Omega, pt 6: Installation and F.A.Q.
With the Omega finalized and off to production, it's time to demonstrate certain things about its functionality, especially questions about adjustment, installation, and compatibility. The video below should answer most questions, so watch that first and then read on for more information.
Basically, the Omega is a standard road brake, and mounts in the usual fashion. Most tri bikes, and virtually all road bikes use this type of brake mount. However, since the world of tri bikes is constantly evolving, I've compiled a bit more information about compatibility in this chart. Note that the compatibility chart doesn't include every bike out there, but does include most of the popular tri bikes today.
Installation is very simple and straightforward. Here are the basic steps:
Omega Installation
Remove the Omega's face plate. Select the appropriate length bolt to mount the Omega to your bike, and slide it into the slot in the back plate. For a front brake installation, you'll want one of the longer bolts supplied. For a rear brake, select a shorter bolt.
Mount the Omega to the bike as you would any standard brake, by sliding the brake into the mounting hole in your fork, inserting the recessed nut from the other side, and tightening with an M5 Allen wrench. Before tightening fully, adjust the brake height so that the pads are positioned in the center of your wheel's brake track.
Set pad angle via the two M5 screws on the side of the brake. These use a 3mm Allen wrench.
Route cable housing through the cable stop, pull the cable taut to remove slack, and slide it down in front of the Omega's wedge. Trim the cable 1cm past the set screw pinch bolt in the wedge. Then route the cable through the hole in the top of the wedge, pull it taut to remove slack, and tighten the set screw pinch bolt. Be sure to use enough force so that the cable does not slip when squeezing the brake lever under hard braking.
Replace the Omega's face plate. Be careful not to overtighten, use 1-2 Nm MAX. DO NOT use any kind of thread-locker or other chemicals here. They are not necessary, and can cause damage to the front plate.
Adjust the pad stance width via the set screws in the side of the brake. These adjust via an M2 Allen wrench. They adjust independently, and thus can also be used to achieve fine-tuning of brake centering as well. Barrel adjusters should not be used for the purpose of a quick release, as they essentially deploy the brake, limiting its throw and flipping the arms out. However, you CAN use a barrel adjuster for the purpose of eliminating slack in the cable. This is a handy tip for people having a hard time getting tension in the cable with the brake at rest.
There are a couple other little quirks depending on your particular setup and preferences. The cable hanger shown in the video comes with the Omega. If you prefer to run bare cable in front of your head tube instead of housing, you can replace the cable hanger with the other piece shown in the video, and route something like a this steerer tube hanger. However, I don't supply those.
Moreover, there's really no need to run a third-party hanger from an aerodynamic perspective. In our preliminary testing, we found almost no difference in drag between using the integrated hanger and using bare cable. Full details will be available when we release our full white paper, some time after production brakes have had a chance to be tested. And anyway, some people will want to do that mod for aesthetic reasons, which is why I supply the alternative hardware to make it possible.
For some installations, especially rear brakes, you'll need a little more clearance between the Omega and the bike (that is, it can't be mounted flush). Each Omega includes three lock washers - two 2.5mm washers and one 5mm washer - that nest into each other and provide up to 10mm of space. If your bike is unusual and you require even more, they will be available from the TriRig service department.
I've gotten a lot of questions about the Omega - hit the jump for the list of the most common ones.
